The Smurfs
User Score
4.5 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 122 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 122
  2. Mixed: 29 out of 122
  3. Negative: 52 out of 122

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  1. Shiira
    Oct 7, 2011
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Hot on the trail of the Smurfs, the wizard has no time for introspection, especially in such a faraway land as New York City. He almost had them, but once again, the little blue creatures were able to outsmart their age-old enemy, escaping this time in "a mechanical wagon"(taxi), by the seat of their white pants. For the moment, while Gargamel figures out the logistics of corralling his most hated nemeses, the wizened old necromancer can bide some time, thanks to the fortuitous hairball that Azarel coughs up. Entangled in the cat's mucus, to the wizard's chagrin, are strands of Smurfette's hair, the color of which is not what Gargamel had selected for the girl's coif the day that he created her. In "The Smurfette", an origin story of the patriarchal village's only female member(an episode from the NBC animate series "The Smurfs"), we learn that Smurfette started out as a brunette, a Jew, just like her father, who resembles a caricature born out of German propaganda, the bogeyman that Goethke makes the Judaic people out to be, for the benefit of a roomful of terrified Hitler youths, in "Europa, Europa", by describing the Hebrew people as having a "high forehead", "shifty eyes", and an "apelike walk", characteristics that aptly describe Gargamel's somewhat grotesque figure. In "The Smurfette", the wizard makes "exaggerated gestures", going so far as "waving his hands around in excitement" over the "Blue Bride of Gargamel," giving credence to Goethke's lies about the persecuted people whom Salomon Perel, known to his Nazi teacher and peers as "Jupp Peters", actually descends from, in the 1990 film about the arbitrary nature of identity, and survival during the Holocaust. "Garbage Smell"(referred as such in the movie) is the imaginary Jew who "leaps at your throat", which Goethke, on bended knee, demonstrates by squeezing a student's neck, seated at his desk, the resulting consequence of what happens "the minute your back is turned". Goethke, the master of spurious impersonations, in that moment, is a forerunner to Gargamel, a live-action cartoon figure made real through agitprop rhetoric and hateful hate. In "The Smurfs", Gargamel finds himself in a city where he wouldn't be touched by self-loathing, since back home, there's not another Jew to be found in the forest, whereas in the "Big Apple"(while creating Smurfette, he describes her as being "three apples high"), the lonely wizard, for the first time in his life, would be among his own kind, because down deep inside, he wants to be a Smurf(read: Aryan), too. "The Smurfette" is telling. From a blue lump of clay, the Smurf alchemy that Gargamel performs is indicative of the wizard's deep inferiority complex at the hands of Papa Smurf, who has the cult of personality to rule 99, whereas his autocratic influence holds sway over a single mangy cat. Broken down at the elemental level, Smurfette is made out of "sugar and spice(but nothing nice)", "a dram of crocodile tears", "half a packet of lies", and "the hardest stone for a heart", an ingredient list that seems to have been written out by an Aryan. To Gargamel, the Smurfette is a sort of wish-fulfillment; he gets to live vicariously through her, because being blue is what he most wishes for. In "Europa, Europa", Goethke considers the Nordic race as the gems of the earth, championing light hair and blue eyes as being "the most glowing example of creation". Likewise, Papa Smurf, as a result of sharing the same Nazi ideology, transforms the slightly dowdy, black-haired Smurfette into a terrifying vision of Aryan perfection, introducing the finished produced as being "new and improved", meaning that she is blonde and Nordic-looking. Salomon, in his effort to be more Aryan-like, reattaches the foreskin to his circumcised penis. Presumed to be East Baltic, "Jupp" is barely Aryan as is, therefore, barely human, similar to how Smurfette's new family of blue Aryan youth considers her to be barely a Smurf, due to the girl's naturally dark hair. But for survival's sake, she seduces her blue enemy by acting the part of the coquette, just like Charlotte Rampling in "The Night Porter, where the concentration camper sings a song made famous by Marlene Dietrich(star of "The Blue Angel"), while dancing topless with Nazi accouterments. Since blue is white in the Enchanted Forest, the blue moon ad that Patrick Winslow creates and Odilie approves for her cosmetics company, becomes an accidental endorsement for Aryan superiority, or rather, blue superiority, without their knowledge. Papa Smurf needs Gargamel; the totalitarian needs the wizard in order to keep himself in power. In all likelihood, he created the Jewish bogeyman, similar to how the elders in "The Village" invented the myth of the monster in the woods as a scare tactic against their people leaving. Papa needs his minions. Those smurfberries aren't going to pick themselves.… Expand
  2. nutterjr
    Oct 19, 2011
    3
    A real disappointment of a story. I used to watch the Smurfs and they were fun to watch. It is scary that they have announced a further two sequels.
  3. Knicksfan7
    Aug 18, 2011
    1
    this movie was sooooooooooooooooooo bad, i was annoyed throughout the whole thing. Their was just nothing to like, the smurfs were annoying most of the time, the actors are horrible and Gargamel looks like a serious pedophile. I like the song for some reason, i have no idea why, but this movie was BAD. Annoying, stupid, and pointless. 1/10
  4. smijatov
    Jan 22, 2012
    3
    Keeping in mind that this film is mainly catering to a younger audience, I gave the film a 3. In reality, it deserves a zero. And that statement isn't even true - it's geared at the actually older audiences who actually watched The Smurfs as kids, since that's a very very old cartoon and today's generations probably don't even know them. Anyway, the film is just awful. There is nothing positive about it. It uses pathetic acting (mainly Gargamel and Sofia Vergara who is playing Gloria from "Modern Family" basically - or is she just playing Sofia Vergara?), horrible screenplay - the dialogue is pathetic - and it is just not very funny. There is something to be said about a film in which a character makes fun of "how annoying" the theme song is. The sad thing is - the song is very annoying (at least in the rendition in the film), as is the whole picture. As I said, I'd give it a zero, but realising that kids films are usually stupid as it is, I gave it a 3. Avoid it if you can, for your own good.… Expand
  5. filmtrashreview
    Aug 5, 2011
    2
    I know the film was going to be dumb but I didn't know it was going to be stupider then Garfield and the Chipmunks combined. Its lame its horrible and the amount of references to the word smurf is just annoying. It's smurftarded!!!
  6. BrianMcCritic
    May 2, 2013
    1
    As a fan of the smurfs cartoon when I was a kid, it makes me weep for the youth today. This is not the smurfs I remember and unfortunately they have brought NPH into this mess.
  7. SEROJ
    Mar 13, 2013
    3
    I was so disappointed when i first saw "The Smurfs" on the theaters. It's just silly and primitive, nothing special. The acting in the movie is terrible and the story is average. But still i recommend it to kids and some teens. My final PERSONAL score is 3/10
  8. RodrigoBGC
    Oct 11, 2011
    2
    movies like this make kids stupid, just because is for children it doesn´t mean that it have to be stupid, there are too many good children movies like Fantastic Mr Fox or Toy Story, please do not make your children watch this
  9. RyanPratt
    Sep 12, 2011
    1
    Skip-it - The Smurfs visiting New York is nothing more than a handful of recognizable voices buried beneath a heaping pile of boring blue baby junk.

    Read more reviews at http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-national/see-it-rent-it-skip-it-top-10-best-movies-theaters-friday-september-9th#ixzz1XkIybtWB
  10. MetallicCritic
    Dec 13, 2011
    2
    I can't believe I sat through this. This movie was so bad it had me crying. It was as bad as my writing. The plot was horrible. The voice overs where wrongly cast. There was so much stuff that was really unnecessary. Why is Neil Patrick Harris' name in all his movies Patrick? If I where a producer I would not allow the actors to pick there own name. If the actor says otherwise then he's gone. I can see that the people that would like this are parents that grew up watching the cartoon. I'm glad I wasn't born back then. The story starts out right away when the smurfs are running from Gargamel. This is exactly what I don't like in movies. The whole movie had sloppy writing for the kids. I can't wait to see the kids that liked this grow up and realize how bad of a movie it is.… Expand
  11. wordy_actions
    Aug 10, 2011
    2
    One of the worst movies I've seen, and not a good children's movie. Please, for the love of god America, stop going to see **** movies so that they'll stop being made.
  12. GeneralBlob
    Jul 31, 2011
    1
    Why. Just why is all I really have to say. The last time these guys were good was back in the 70s and 80s. There is no point in resurrecting these characters and then just completely ruin what made the old cartoon great.
  13. Alphajames
    Sep 7, 2011
    4
    I feel Hollywood stole my childhood ripped in open and filled it with promises of fame and glory, they have turned the Smurfs into little cam whores and mutilated a once great t.v show for kids beside they can never beat the best Smurf film ever........AVATAR (points for camera work, and effects)
  14. TheCoolFrench
    Oct 18, 2011
    1
    As an European who grew up reading the Smurfs and loving it, it is the huggest disappointment Hollywood brought me this year. They made it in 3D ? Why i am not surprised ?
  15. ianriker
    Oct 26, 2011
    3
    Wow. Movie was bad but not horrible. The humor was childish. "Smurf" replaced every word (What the smurf?) And forever after that movie I have the urge to sing that horribly catchy Smurf song. Overall, this movie met my expectations - very low quality flick produced solely to entertain little kids and give stressed parents a break from their little demons. Nicely put GregTehBunny. Bad budget, worse movie.… Expand
  16. insidiousis
    Aug 17, 2011
    0
    This was the worst movie I've seen since... ever. I've seen better movies on disney channel. I mean, even for kids it's mediocre at best. The plot line was so stupid. The only thing that kept the movie from falling apart was the decent actors, and the cute little blue people. There isn't even any comedy at all. Nothing in this movie would appeal to the parents being forced to watch it. If you desire to see a movie that will help you have a wonderful nap, the smurfs is the right choice for you! Plus, the villain lokked like a creeper and gave me a severe migraine.… Expand
  17. Gtafan421
    Aug 26, 2011
    1
    This film is just...God. Its so BAD!

    I can see why it would have been relevant back in the 80's, or heck, even the 90's, but now, in 2011? No. This film simply doesn't work. I feel that this film could have been better if it was called "The Smurfs, Only not the Smurfs From the 70s/80s That we Remember: The Movie". Seriously. This film slaughters the characters, weather you loved or hated     them, that we knew from the show. If you thought Garfield, or Yogi Bear were a travesty of a film, then you don't even want to touch this film (not even with gloves on). Worst of all, the film uses an incredibly annoying gag that just doesn't work; this is what I like to call the 'mothersmurfer' gag. This is when the Smurfs use the word 'smurf' to replace other words, instead of calling someone a retard (NOT TO BE TAKEN OFFENSE TO - EXAMPLE HERE), they call them a smurftard. All the jokes that come from this are about as well written as a four year old's comedy act... If a four year old had curses and bad taste at their disposal. Its awful, don't waste your money, there are bound to be more family friendly films (that actually apply to the term family friendly) to show up this year. Skip this garbage.… Expand
  18. GregTehBunny
    Aug 2, 2011
    1
    This movie is a monument to everything that's wrong about our society. It uses celebrity clout (Katy Perry, I'm looking at you) to sell tickets instead of actually putting work into the things that matter in a film like clever jokes and character development. Instead, a joke that featured heavily in the film was the - take a word and replace it with 'smurf' - gag which made me want to gouge my eyes out with a rusty spoon. Sure, it was a big part of the TV show as well, but we as a culture have moved on from that kind of entertainment. Overall, this movie met my expectations - very low quality flick produced solely to entertain little kids and give stressed parents a break from their little demons.… Expand
  19. SuitUp1975
    Jan 18, 2012
    3
    That movie is awful, it's humor isn't funny and the characters are really annoying. Smurfs were cool once, but their time is over, to be clear there were only two reasons, why I've watched it: Neil Patrick Harris and Neil Patrick Harris, only because of him, I'm giving this film 3 of 10, cause if there would be no Neil, I would give it 1 of 10
    P.S.
    The film is terrible

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
30 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 22 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 22
  3. Negative: 11 out of 22
  1. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Nick Schager
    Aug 2, 2011
    30
    Gosnell directs as if every scene must be either a nauseating roller-coaster ride or a syrupy melodrama, resulting in a seesawing tone that's not stabilized by the presence of Neil Patrick Harris.
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  2. Boxoffice Magazine
    Reviewed by: Amy Nicholson
    Jul 29, 2011
    20
    Looking at the obnoxious TV ads for The Smurfs, it's easy to dismiss the film as a shrill, joyless exercise in special effects without substance. It's even easier after actually seeing it.
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  3. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Keith Uhlich
    Jul 29, 2011
    20
    Smurftastic! Now where's that noose?
    Read full review
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